America: A Concise History, Volume 1: To 1877

The Era of Good Feelings • The Era of Good Feelings was more apparent than real. • There was only one party (The Democratic Republicans), but it was internally divided : o The Jeffersonian Wing o The Nationalist Wing o These two parties could not peacefully coexist, so later they split into the Democratic party (Jeffersonian) and the Whig party (Nationalist). • There was another political divide: The Supreme Court o The Supreme Court became not only a court of law, but a system of checks and balances for the government (as it was intended) o The John Marshall was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court  He held that position from 1801 to the 1830s  He was a federalist and often ruled in favor of the central/federal government  He also favored private property rights against states  It was thanks to him that he made the Supreme Court a powerful entity and the current Supreme Court exists the way it does because of him o John Marshall often clashed with the Republican Party

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